The 1928 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in the American League with a record of 98 wins and 55 losses. The team featured seven eventual Hall-of-Fame players: Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Eddie Collins, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons, and Tris Speaker.

Offseason February 5, 1928: Tris Speaker was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Tris Speaker page at Baseball Reference

Regular season By this time, the nucleus of the 1929–31 dynasty was in place for the A's. The team featured three starters who were later elected into the Hall of Fame: catcher Mickey Cochrane and outfielders Al Simmons and Ty Cobb. Cochrane was voted league MVP. Simmons led the team with a .351 batting average and 107 RBI. Cobb, in his last major league season, hit .323 in 95 games. Jimmie Foxx, Tris Speaker, and Eddie Collins also saw playing time for the 1928 team.

The pitching staff, led by 24-game winner Lefty Grove, allowed the fewest runs in the AL.

The A's were in a hard fought pennant race with the New York Yankees this season. After trailing the Yankees by 13.5 games on July 1, the A's caught fire with a 25-8 record in July and a 19-9 record in August. In September, the A's won the first 6 out of 8 games and on the 8th pulled into first place by 1/2 game by sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway Park in a doubleheader. However, on the very next day, the A's were swept by the Yankees in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium to fall back into second place. The A's kept close on the Yankees heels, but couldn't overtake New York.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1928 Philadelphia Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 131 468 137 .293 10 57 1B 95 300 78 .260 16 59 2B 126 472 149 .316 6 50 3B 88 314 97 .309 4 58 SS 132 425 112 .264 0 49 OF 139 510 168 .329 8 85 OF 119 464 163 .351 15 107 OF 95 353 114 .323 1 40

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 118 400 131 .328 13 79 91 332 93 .280 6 39 85 242 67 .277 5 30 64 191 51 .267 3 30 64 170 52 .306 0 22 48 74 19 .257 0 7 28 34 9 .265 0 3 36 33 10 .303 0 7 19 29 5 .172 0 1

Pitching = Indicates league leader Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 39 261.2 24 8 2.58 183 38 235.2 17 12 3.55 112 31 211.1 18 7 2.90 43 26 158.1 7 7 3.81 117 23 139.1 9 8 3.62 34

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 43 173.2 13 5 3.06 37 27 106.0 6 5 4.58 53 3 14.0 1 1 3.21 5 2 8.2 0 1 2.08 1 Note: Eddie Rommel was the team leader in saves with 4.

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 11 2 1 1 5.09 15 9 1 0 2 4.50 4 3 0 0 0 5.06 3 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors Mickey Cochrane, AL Most Valuable Player

League top five finishers Max Bishop #4 in AL in on-base percentage (.435)

Lefty Grove AL leader in wins (24) AL leader in strikeouts (183) #3 in AL in ERA (2.58)Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p.51, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC,

Joe Hauser #4 in AL in home runs (16)

Al Simmons #4 in AL in batting average (.351)

References

External links 1928 Philadelphia Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1928 Philadelphia Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com